Several types of tools for compressing or distracting tissues such as bones or bone fragments toward healing of a trauma or correcting of an abnormality are known. Among these include instruments that use cables to pull together bones or artificial implants placed in such bones, scissor-like tools that apply leverage around a central fulcrum to move bones or implants toward or away from each other, and even the surgeon's own hands. Such manipulations or adjustments of bones are indicated for correction of a number of orthopedic conditions. For example, in the case of a scoliosis or other abnormal positioning of the spine, one or more vertebrae or vertebral segments may require compression or distraction with respect to adjacent bones to achieve a better or more normal position. In the case of a trauma, for example after an injury to a bone or adjacent tissue or removal of a cancerous or other mass, compression or distraction of tissue may be required to induce proper healing, to accommodate a therapy such as implantation of spacing or holding devices or of therapeutic material (e.g. bone morphogenic protein (BMP), allograft, autograft or other osteogenic substances, or medications), or for other reasons. Prior compression and/or distraction tools are not always useful, or may be awkward to use, in certain surgical pathologies or situations. Thus, there remains a need in the art for such instruments that provide advantages over existing tools.